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The latest box set for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, Skaventide, has brought with it a wave of new and updated Skaven sculpts. After researching the different clans while deciding what colour scheme to paint, I felt an affinity for Clan Skully, who try to be stealthy but wear bright red cloaks and clunky armour, which means they aren’t very successful at sneaking around.
The fifty ratmen in Skaventide are led by a Clawlord on Gnaw-beast. There is also a Grey Seer, Warlock Engineer, Ratling Warpblaster, three Rat Ogors, three Warplock Jezzails, and a hefty forty Clanrats. Read on for my Speedpainting and ‘Eavy Metal-style guides detailing how I painted the Skaven (using Citadel Paints unless specified otherwise):
Ratatata
I selected a number of Contrast Paints for strong and vibrant coverage with just one quick coat. The rat’s flesh was painted with a 1:2 mix of Magos Purple + Guilliman Flesh. Once dry, I applied Basilicanum Grey on top to darken it down, except for the nose, ears and tail. For the furry areas, I alternated between Black Templar and Black Legion. Then I picked out the eyes with Karandras Green to make them appear to glow.
On the Skaven’s claws, teeth, and rope, I used Skeleton Horde, and their robes were either Blood Angels Red or Flesh Tearer’s Red. For any leather straps and wood, I switched between Aggaros Dunes, Snakebite Leather, Gore-Grunta Fur, and Garaghak’s Sewer. On their shields, after applying the wood colours, I added a layer of Baal Red and then scratched off some of the red with a hard bristle brush to show the brown underneath.
The metal areas were painted with Leadbelcher, then Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade, followed by a Stormhost Silver drybrush. I then applied a few washes to add more contrast; Nuln Oil on the flesh, Agrax Earthshade on the wood and leather. For the final stages, I drybrushed everything except for the metals using Rakarth Flesh and then threw a 1:1 mix of Carroburg Crimson + Lahmian Medium over the top to draw it all together.
‘Eavy Metal
If you want to spend a bit of extra time on your Skaventide miniatures to make them really pop, read on for my longer paint recipe.
The hands, feet, nose, tail, and ears of these rats were basecoated with Screamer Pink + Cadian Fleshtone 1:2. A glaze of Basilicanum Grey + Lahmian Medium 1:1 was added to their limbs and head. Then I picked out the tufts of fur with Abaddon Black, then highlighted it with Eshin Grey and Stormvermin Fur. For their eyes, I used Warpstone Glow and then a dot of Moot Green.
The claws, teeth, and rope were basecoated with Zandri Dust and highlighted with Morghast Bone then Ushabti Bone.
Any leather straps on the miniatures were painted using Doombull Brown, shaded with Rhinox Hide, and then a deeper shade of Rhinox Hide + Abaddon Black 1:1. For the highlights, I used mixes of Doombull Brown + Karak Stone 2:1 and then 1:2. The wooden parts were basecoated with Rhinox Hide, shaded with Dryad + Abaddon Black 1:1, highlighted with Deathclaw Brown, and an edge highlight of Tau Light Ochre.
I applied a basecoat of Khorne Red to the rats’ robes and used Gal Vorbak Red in the recesses. Then I highlighted the robes with Mephiston Red, did a thinner highlight of Evil Sunz Scarlet, and an edge highlight of Wild Rider Red. Finally, I used Leadbelcher for the metal areas, washed them with Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade, re-established the basecoat with Leabelcher, and then highlighted them using Stormhost Silver.
I hope you enjoyed these painting guides for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, Skaventide You can message us on social media @ZatuGames if you’d like to show us your own painted models. We’d love to see what you’ve been working on.